From the Director
A Word from our Executive Director
UniForum '96--The Catalyst for Change
As you're aware, the Unix and open systems industry is meeting this month
at UniForum '96. Tens of thousands of end users and vendors will be rubbing
shoulders for five days beginning Monday, Feb. 12, at San Francisco's Moscone
Convention Center. It will be my great pleasure to meet many of you who
will be in attendance.
I've written in past columns about the value of the UniForum Conference,
the excitement to be found on the show floor and the uniqueness of our keynote
line-up. Now I'd like to emphasize the importance of this event as a catalyst
for change. Over the years, it has been the scene of many important announcements--COSE,
CDE and the OSF reorganization come to mind--and UniForum '96 will provide
its share of similar new initiatives.
While I cannot give specific information (because negotiations are proceeding
as I write this), I assure you that on Wednesday morning, Feb. 14, there
will be a press conference at which significant news will be announced,
which will affect all users of Unix and open technologies. The Unix industry
is collaborating as never before, and the details will be unveiled at UniForum
'96. Furthermore, I am reliably informed that a number of major vendors
of Unix-based operating systems also will make announcements that will bring
us up to date on what lies in store for the future of Unix on advanced architectures.
The news that will be made at UniForum '96 reflects a reality that bears
repeating: Customers of Unix-based products and services, and the industry
that serves them, have too big a stake riding in the game to lose sight
of the payoff they both gain when interoperability, scalability and mission-critical
reliability are truly realized. That's why the key players keep trying;
it's what fuels their research and development, and it's what keeps their
clients loyally Unix-centric. The preferred model of advanced computing
yesterday, today and for the foreseeable future is centered on Unix-based
solutions, and it will be the family of vendors and users who will ensure
that these solutions are open.
The solutions you'll see at UniForum '96 are what some have taken to calling
"extreme computing"; this good phrase conjures up breathtaking
feats of computing that solve real business problems that are hard to crack.
What you'll see at the conference is how Unix--the ultimate model of extreme
computing--dominates enterprise computing where the problems faced by users
go far beyond the desktop. Sure, spreadsheets are important, but businesses
are run on Unix. At UniForum '96 you'll also see these solutions being offered
for the first time. That's because the industry chooses UniForum as its
primary showcase for news, for initiatives and for product rollouts. There's
a lot going on at UniForum this year, and I hope you're there to enjoy it.
UniForum's IT Solutions Premieres
You have in your hands a potential collector's item: the first issue of
UniForum's IT Solutions magazine. Many of you will recognize the
contents as being very similar to those of UniForum Monthly--and
that's on purpose. For those of you new to UniForum, what we have in store
is a monthly publication that will cover all aspects of advanced computing,
with a particular interest in open technologies and an avowed bias toward
Unix. We hope you'll enjoy reading it, either by subscription or as a member
of the UniForum Association. Let us hear your opinions by sending e-mail
to pubs@uniforum.org.
Richard H. Jaross is the executive director of the UniForum
Association. He can be reached at rich@uniforum.org.